Collection
by Transformers 0
Summary: Based off a character interaction in chapter 2 of "Catch and Release" by fellow fanfiction author kaithelonechampion. Hints of McCree x Tracer throughout.
1. Collection

**Based off a character interaction in chapter 2 of kaithelonechampion's story** _ **Catch and Release**_ **.**

* * *

 **Collection**

She had been just wanting to ask him to come down to the targeting range for some shootout practice. It was only unlucky then that he had just been busy playing holo games all afternoon, and had needed to go to the restroom to let out a number one. In the process of rushing there, he didn't bother locking his quarters.

And so when Tracer had blinked into the room, being the hyperactive girl she was, she had found only an upturned bowl of half-eaten cheese rashuns, and a paused holo game screen.

And a collection of Sheriff Woody dolls.

McCree was always one to keep his room private and sealed off from the others, unless their name was Gabriel Reyes, the moniker of his former Blackwatch commander, who had perished in the destruction of the Overwatch base in Switzerland.

But seeing the cowboy's cache of – well – cowboys, brought a goofy smile to Lena's face and a dainty giggle in her throat.

And that was when she spotted the blatant and most obvious evidence that McCree had sprinted for the toilets. His forsaken hat on the floor, to be precise.

Bending down to pick up the novelty item, Lena got a mischievous idea…

* * *

That number one had gone on longer than expected.

The cowboy agent had let out a relieved sigh as he exited the men's room.

Something that didn't go unnoticed by the resident doctor as she passed by.

"You've been playing video games all afternoon, have you?"

"Sure thing, partner."

"Well just make sure that you don't put your urinary and faecal tracts on hold next time, Agent McCree. We wouldn't want me to spend an afternoon extracting your bodily waste from the inside out, now would we?"

"Uh… no… no we wouldn't, doctor…" was all McCree could mumble, some sick just rising into his mouth at the moment.

"That's good, off you go then," said Mercy.

McCree made a move to tip his hat to the lady, but found out that he had left it behind when his hand grasped empty air.

"Hmm, boys will be boys," chuckled Mercy, shaking her head as she entered her lab down the hall.

"That was awkward," McCree muttered the cliché response as he made his way back to his room. It was just inconvenient then that Torbjorn had happened to chance upon the western's little conversation with the doctor, and had decided to poke a little fun at him.

"You know, son," the Swiss engineer suddenly piped up, making the poor cowboy jump, "When I was a wee lad, my parents raised me to view video games as a waste of time."

"Technically, TBJ, they are _holo_ games…"

"The name's _Torbjorn_ , laddie! And don't ye forget it!" the smith said, swinging his hammer about.

"Watch it, ol' man! I can't game _or_ fight with another arm missing!"

"I'm just trolling ya," sighed the Swiss in exasperation, "Now off ye go, back to your world of digital bullets and figurines."

The smith then clobbered away muttering, "Kids. Can't live with 'em. Can't live without 'em. Although they would be easier to tolerate if they weren't hooked to holoscreens all the time. Video games! Bah humbug! What's next? A digital gaming merchandise featuring the agents of Overwatch in an online worldwide deathmatch? The world these days…"

After watching the old Swiss warhorse hobble off, McCree was now certain that the longtime engineer had a few screws loose, no pun intended.

Right now the western agent just resolved to get back to his quarters and finish his current level before dinner time. He was certain that Pharah, Overwatch's resident cook, wouldn't spare him some leftovers if he was late again.

He had just entered the proximity of his quarters when he heard an unmistakable giggle.

"Oh. My. God," said a light voice with a clipped British accent.

"Miss Oxton?" McCree gaped as he stared at the resident speedster standing in the middle of his room. Lena yelped and her cheeks flushed so furiously that the cowboy almost laughed at the sight. As if she was a little girl caught sneaking into her big brother's room.

"Now, would y'all mind telling me what you're doing in _mi casa_?"

In a flash, Lena had blinked to just a meter before him and started gesturing her arms around frantically as she meekly mumbled out apologies.

"Oh Jesse! I'm-so-sorry-I-wanted-to ask-you-out-for-target-practice…"

A pause to catch her breath…

"But-you-weren't-there-and-now… I just had to look around because of my stupid childlike curiosity and I think I may have found your collection of Woody dolls!"

"That's fine," laughed McCree.

"That's… _fine_?" Lena repeated, growing mildly confused, "I just invaded your privacy and found out one of your deepest secrets, and that's _fine_ to you?"

"Totally. And I wouldn't call my secret collection a deep secret, but anyhow the question that I _do_ have for you is what are you doing wearing my hat?"

"Oh, that, um…" Tracer sputtered before resyncing her train of logic, "I'm McCree! Howdy howdy howdy! It's high noon!"

Okay, the speedster girl did imitate him in a cheesy way, but unlike Lucio, who McCree had pummelled when the Brazilian saw it fit to mock his catchphrase, Lena actually looked _cute_ when she adopted his stance and played a lower-pitched version of her voice in an attempt to emulate his grandeur.

"Well, I'll be doggone Ms Oxton, that was one of the best western portrayals I've ever been fortunate enough to be an audience to."

"Thanks! I always volunteered for my high school plays when I was still a junior. You should visit my room one time. We could watch some recordings of my college dramas."

"That sounds dad-gum fine to me. I'll schedule a booking next week."

"Sweet," Tracer chirped, shyly focusing her gaze on the floor in front of her now, "So, see each other in the mess hall?"

"Sure thing. My gizzard instincts say that Pharah has cooked up a five-star five-course meal for night brunch," responded McCree.

"Alright, bye for now luv," farewelled Tracer, blinking away after a wave so quickly that the cowboy couldn't even give his own bon voyage salute.

* * *

Mei took up a bowl of her favorite dinner dish of shrimp dumplings and noodles and brought it over to one of the many tables in the huge dining facility that the Gibraltar base contained. As she made her way to sit down, she noticed Jesse with a goofy smile plucking absentmindedly with his fork at his chili.

"Well it seems someone is in a colourful mood today," she perked up in greeting to him. He clearly wasn't expecting it as he let out a yelp of surprise.

"Mei? How _long_ have you been staring?"

"Sorry sorry sorry," the Chinese scientist gave her usual timid apology to something that she wasn't at fault for, "I wasn't staring, but I did notice that you were in a dreamy state of bliss at the moment."

"How come nobody ever told me Miss Oxton was hot?"

"Sorry but… excuse me?" Mei queried.

"Just this afternoon, she snuck into my room, intending to ask me to spar with her on the shooting range, but instead just decided to play with my hat and impersonate me when she found… well, that last bit is just between me and her, 'kay?"

"Ah, found yourself a soulmate have you?" asked Mei.

"Nonononono, it's not what you think. Not like that," sputtered McCree.

"Yet," teased Mei.

"I might just consider moving away from this spot, ya know."

"Good, then I won't have your tobacco polluting my airspace."

McCree sighed and shook his head with an exasperated smile. He was too busy gazing at Tracer, who was occupying herself with chattering to Winston and Reinhardt. The cowboy was barely aware that Mei had scooted a bit closer to whisper something to him.

"You'd better make a move before some other boy does. You know that right?"

McCree shook his head somberly.

A cute and hyper girl falling for a roguish scoundrel like him?

What were the chances?

Still… you'd never know until you try…

"Perhaps…" the cowboy responded slowly, deep in thought at the moment.

* * *

 **There will be a coda to this! Don't worry!**

 **Merry Christmas everyone!**


	2. Coda: Blooming Affection

**And here is the epilogue!**

 **And the italicized bit at the start is my expansion on said character interaction in** _ **Catch and Release**_ **by kaithelonechampion that I based this entire story off of.**

* * *

 **Coda: Blooming Affection**

 _"Jesse!" she cried through the phone line, relief and joy coursing through her bloodstream, "It's good to hear from you, luv! I escaped a Talon base, and I–"_

 _"Whoa, whoa, wait_ what _?" came the cowboy's terrified reply. Lena had never heard Jesse sound so fearful._

 _"Hun, ya safe?" came his next inquiry._

 _"Yeah, I… I think so," Lena responded hesitantly, "But maybe they… you know…"_

 _Jesse didn't need to hear her finish the sentence. It was common knowledge of opposing factions to release prisoners with bio-tracking chips implanted into the victims' bodies to locate the whereabouts of an opponent's secret base._

 _Lena knew this too, hence why she had resolved to phone her allies and tell them of her predicament from the phone booth of a diner opened to the public for the full 24 hours of a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year._

 _"Listen," the cowboy said reassuringly, "We'll get ya home safe 'n' sound. We won't stop until you're back with us and as healthy as a horse."_

 _The cowboy paused, finding solicitous passion in his next statement._

 _"And if_ they _did something to ya – whatever it is – we'll make sure you get better, 'kay?"_

 _Hearing that line in his comforting voice only made Tracer clutch the telephone in her hand tighter for an increased sense of solace._

 _"Okay," she responded with immense gratitude. Then she forced herself to make an attempt at revealing a disturbing truth she had uncovered whilst she had been imprisoned at the enemy base._

 _"Listen, I… Something odd happened when I woke up there."_

 _McCree was still all ears._

 _"Yeah?" he prompted her to continue._

 _"B-but I think I should wait to tell the others… it's important, I think, that they know."_

 _"I can tell 'em if it's vital," the western gunman offered, though a thought crossed him, "But if the line ain't secure…"_

 _"Then we could let slip a crucial piece of confidential data to prying ears," was the thought in both the cowboy and the speedster's minds._

 _McCree just opted to wait until the girl was back with them – mind, body and heart. That way she was absolutely safe along with the information that could turn the tide of their next brush with Talon. He knew Lena had come to the same conclusion, but he had taken the chivalrous action of gently reminding her of that procedure as a verbal form of comfort._

 _"Relax, somebody's on their way…" he said, though his acute gunman's senses alerted him a nanosecond before another urgent request from Tracer was patched through to him over the line._

 _"Can they bring clothes and shoes?" the young lady queried, a bit of abashed addlement seeping into her voice, "I'm kind of… barefoot in a hospital gown…"_

* * *

Barefoot in a hospital gown?

"No prisoner's ever said that before," Jesse mumbled to himself as he sent some new orders to the rescue duo of Reinhardt and Torbjorn. The German Knight and the Swiss Engineer were an effective pair of "good ol' uncles" for the Overwatch agents that remained today. Both were extremely fun to wind down with after missions, and during battle they would fight tooth and nail to protect the other members of their family, especially those that were considered "the children" of the lot.

Tracer was one of these "children", and the gallant veterans were currently gearing up as fast as they could to set out on their retrieval mission.

Even so, from the debriefings that Tracer transmitted over the payphone, McCree couldn't hide his bemusement on just how wack her situation was.

Lena practically escaped a hellhole in nothing more than a hospital gown and bare feet.

That girl was always getting herself into sticky situations, and exiting out most of the time with nary a physical or a mental scratch. That both staggered and stumped the cowboy. To be honest though, that's what he loved about her, and her chipper personality just strengthened his infatuation for her.

"What else can she surprise us with?" Jesse asked himself once more, before refocusing his priorities on listening to said girl.

* * *

 _"They'll bring clothes for ya," Jesse replied, and Tracer let out a giggly sigh._

 _Yes, she was barefoot in a hospital gown, but he made it sound like she was naked._

 _"Is your chronal thingamajig workin' fine?"_

 _"He's so chivalrous," Tracer thought to herself before replying, "Yeah, it's tip top, Jesse. Thanks for asking."_

 _"It's what friends do, ain't it?" he replied, and Lena could swear to herself that she heard the western simper a bit at the sentence's end._

 _"The others say I bring out the sun in him. I didn't really understand what that meant until now," reflected Lena inwardly. She had often gotten looks and encouraging gestures from her other comrades if she and Jesse happened to be in the same room together, albeit without noticing or talking to each other._

 _One such thing happened, only a few nights ago…_

* * *

"The central library in Wellington has currently been taken and utilized by Talon as an omnic hostage ground," reported Winston to his assembled team, "McCree, Pharah, Lena, your tasks are to flank the Northern and Western sides. Mercy and Lucio, you will provide reinforcement on the Southern side, leaving me and Reinhardt to storm the building from the East."

Jack had stepped up to give a customary pre-mission speech that would hype up and rally together everyone's morale. The younger members of the strike team though, Lena and Lucio specifically, had just decided to tune out and let their minds wander a bit before launching themselves into the fight or flight train of thought.

"Yo Lena!" Lucio's voice popped out right next to her. She jumped.

"What ya staring at?"

Lena felt her face flush a little. She hadn't realized she had been gazing at McCree's silhouette until Lucio interjected.

"Uh, nothing," she pathetically fibbed, "Just visualizing what my individual attack plan's gonna be."

"Since when did you dedicate yourself to intricate planning?" laughed the Brazilian, "Seriously though, you need to harden your guts and go ask him out!"

"W-Who?" stammered Tracer.

"You know, the bearded cowboy? Woody? The Caped Ranger?"

"N-No way! He barely notices me! And if he did, he views me as more of a little sister than a possible fiancée," Lena stammered out, though Lucio had no interest of backing down and letting her forfeit her chance.

"Lena and Jesse blasting enemies! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Luce, quit it!" the speedster huffed.

He didn't.

"Lena and Jesse sharing strawberries! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Are we interrupting something here?" asked Jack's voice from the front.

"No, nothing Dad! In fact…" Tracer began, blinking away from Lucio to join Winston alongside, "I'll go and pack all of our gear now."

With that, she blinked out of the room. The others shared glances between each other, but in the end just decided to let the matter drop.

* * *

 _Even so, when she had uncharacteristically decided to spend the rest of the evening cooped up in her quarters after their mission, Lucio returned via text messages to spur her on._

 _He said that there were other girls in the team closer to McCree's age, but none of them complimented the cowboy as much as Lena did. Now that the remaining Overwatch agents were all back together, now was the best time for the cowboy and the speedster to make a move on one another. Just a single decision by one of them could seal their lives together. Or if they both never seized the moment, they'd be spending the rest of their mortality in unbearable spiritual solitude._

 _"I sure pick a hell of a time to start making subtle banter with him," Lena chastised herself inwardly, before Jesse's voice continued to reassure her and anchor her ever closer to the shores of home and safety._

 _"Your extraction team ought ta be there in a few minutes. In the meantime I'll keep talkin' to ya. Make sure nothing goes tits up."_

 _Lena found herself giggling at the cowboy's own sense of pickup lines and flirtatious humour._

 _"Sure," she quipped, "Whatever you say, Woody."_

 _Her spontaneous nickname sparked memories of that blissful afternoon, several years ago. An accidental intrusion, an enlightening discovery, and a blossoming of an ethereal and metaphysical rosebud in both of their hearts._

 _They loved each other then. But they were too young and carefree to see it._

 _Now they could start making up for lost time with a second chance._

 _Jesse took his turn laughing at Lena's new pet name for him._

 _"Careful, or ya might find a snake in your sneakers later, lil' missy."_

 _And so, as Lena Oxton waited for her friends – her family – to pick her up, she treasured every moment that she spent talking with Jesse. They spent the while sharing tidbits of each other's lives with one another, and every word reciprocated felt as though they had enlightened a new piece of the other's heart._

 _Enlightenment was valuable these days, in a world where injustice flows like spilled blood, and hate crashes down like a fire storm upon a forest._

 _In the cold loneliness of night, a cowboy and a speedster kept one another afloat and alight._

 _They supplemented each other's spirits, and began to harvest the wonderful bounty borne by the seeds of affection planted in their hearts long ago._

 _All because of a collection of dolls._

* * *

 **Hope you all enjoyed this little McCree x Tracer two-shot!**

 **I honestly think those two should have a romance.**

 **I've read enough McCree x Tracer stories that their romance seems like Han and Leia to me, or alternatively Tramp and Lady.**

 **The two authors who inspired me to write this were GrizzBe and kaithelonechampion.**

 **Their Overwatch stories that provided the basis for this were a delight for me to read.**

 **I advise you to go and check them out!**

 **As I mentioned earlier, this whole story was based off of kaithelonechampion's story of** _ **Catch and Release**_ **.**

 **And all of GrizzBe's Overwatch stories to date so far are McCree x Tracer. So all you need to do is start reading the earliest one and chronologically make your way through.**

 **And perhaps you may even fall in love with that pairing.**

 **Anyhow, hope you've all enjoyed reading this story!**

 **And I hope you have all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**

 **Transformers 0 over the moon and out!**


End file.
